This past weekend, the Hollywood Collectors Show, now officially called the Hollywood Collectors & Celebrities Show, was once again held at the Marriott Hotel in Burbank.

The picture above is me with two of the attendees. On the right is Mallory Tarcher, going by the name “Mally Lewis” so the fans would know that she is, in fact, the daughter of ventriloquist Shari Lewis. Resting comfortably atop my dome is Shari’s more famous daughter, Lamb Chop. Mallory is very talented in her own right, but she sounds so much like Shari, it’s almost spooky. None of Daws Butler’s four sons sound like him and Noel Blanc was able to master a few of Mel’s characters, but was nowhere near as versatile or as good of an actor. In the case of Shari and Mallory, the performing gene definitely got passed down.

I first met Mallory on the stairs from the restroom at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Both of us were carrying Emmys. She had picked one up for her mother, who had just passed away that year and I had my second one for “Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain”. We talked for a few minutes, complimenting each other. I was gushing, having been blown away by how much like Shari she sounded. She gave me her contact information and I called her when I got back to L.A.

We’ve gotten together a few times over the years, but I hadn’t seen her in a long time, so it was nice to reconnect. Besides being so talented, she’s a lovely person.

Unfortunately, Shari’s characters are owned by another company, so Mallory only has live performance rights. You won’t be seeing another Lamb Chop show on television any time soon. And that is a shame.

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